Transmission-line device



Nov. 6, A1928. 1,690,200

F. H. MILLER TRANSMISSION LINE DEVICE Filed Oct. 20, 1927 INVENTOR Patented Nov. 6, 1928.

UNITED rsTATEs PATENT oFFlcE.

' FREDERIC H. MILLER, CF WILKINSBURG,

PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T WESTING- VANIA.

TRANSMISSION-Linn nnvron.

Application led October 20, 1927. Serial No. 227,435.

My invention relates to transmission-line devices and particularly to electrostaticfield-control means for high-voltage suspension insulators.

One obj ect of my invention is to provide a device of the above-indicated character that while the latter is in operative position be.

tween the main supporting base or tower and the line conductor, Without necessitating detaching the kinsulator at any position to receive the annular structure therearound.

Another object of my invention is to pron vide an electrostatic-field-control device that shall embody relatively movable portions having definitely corelated iield-control-surface portions and means for so connecting, and permitting angular movement of, the same as to avoid interference vvith the fieldcontrol function of the surfaces under nor mal operatingconditions. v

A further obj ect of my invention is to provide a transmission-line ydevice that shall be simple and durable in construction, economical to manufacture and effective in its operation. y i

In ytransmission-line practice, particularly Where suspension insulator units are employed, Vit has been usual to snrroundthe insulator, adjacent to its ends, by field-control or arcing-ring structures 3 A recent development in transmission-line practice ineludesa clamp which, under normal operating conditions, securely grips the conductor, but, in response to breakage of the conductor, is actuated to release the conductor. Particularly, inl connection with a clamp of this type, and also, under certain conditions a clamp of any type, by reason of the lateral lextent of an arcing ring or shield disposed in parallelism with, and in close proximity to, the line conductor, therefare certain conditions under which a portion of the ring or shield and the conductor may engage each other with sufficient force to permanentlydistort the ring. I Y

Also, Where annular one-piecev elements, such as rings or discoidal shields, are employed Withhighvoltage insulators, unless the rings are installed with the initial instal lation of the line, the yinsulators must be detached from the one or the'other end to receive the rings.

It is my aim to provide a field-control structure vthat shall avoid the above-men tioned difficulties and be, in general, an improvement over similar rings heretofore employed. f

Accordingly, in practicing my invention, I provide a field-control device vembodying portions that move with the conductor When engaged thereby and that may be so constructed as'an annular member of relatively movable perimetral or half-sections as to permit its installation around an insulator While the latter is in service. i i

Figure 1, of the accompanying drawings, is a side elevational vieiv of a transmissionline devicev embodying my invention, one part being shown, by broken lines, in an alternative position thereof,

F ig. 2 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1, except that the insulators are omitted for clearness, and p Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional detail views of the structure, taken along the lines III- III and IV-1V, respectively, of Fig l.

. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the device comprises, in general, a clampv member 2 for the reception of a transmission-line inductor 3, arsuspension insulator 4 for supporting the clamp 2 and an electrostatic-fieldcontrol device 5 of my invention.

The clamp 2 may be of any usual and Wellknown type, but, as illustrated, is preferably of the type above-mentioned for permitting the conductor 3 to slip therethrough, under certain abnormal conditions, such as breakage of the conductor between its main supports.

The clamp 2, may comprise a channel member'7, an upper clampingshoe member S, a leaf-spring member 9 and a yoke member 10 that is pivotally yconnected to the channel member 7 by trunnions l2, the latter being supported in alignment With each other, opposite to the .conductor 13, by links 14 and a bolt 15. i

The .specific construction of the clamp 2 which is shown in copending applicationb N. A. Wahlberg, Serial No. 209,441, filed July 30, 1927, and assigned to the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Companyv Vis not particularly gerinane to this invention, as claimed, and need, therefore, not be described specifically herein beyond the fact that angular relative movement between the lchamiel member 7 and the yoke 10 releases the spring 9 by a lugl (not shown) on the yoke member 10 which cooperates with a cam (not shown). Vlhe particular feature of interest in connection with this invention is that, when such action occurs and with the device constructed as such rings are ordinarily constructed, the conductor 3 is likely to engage the field-control device, as heretofore used, with sufficient violence to permanently distort the latter.

In this instance, instead of the field-control device 5 being rigidly mounted, it is constructed so that either the right or the left half of the device, as viewed in the drawing, may move upwardly with the con ductor when engaged by it.

To accomplish this result, the device is constructed. of half-portions 16 and 17 that are `divided along a line at right angles to the direction of the conductor 3. 'ihe portions 16 and 17, which have the main field-control surfaces of the device thereon, are provided, on the undersides thereof, with lugs or projections 18, to which arms 2O preferably of strap metal, are secured, as by bolts 21. The arms 2O are pivotally mounterh'at the inner ends thereof, on lugs 23, constituting parts of Athe yoke as by screw pins 24.

The arms 2O are provided with arcuate slots 26 in which the pins 24 are disposed and which are struck about center point-s 27 in the upper ield-controlled surfaces of the structure 5 between the portions 16 and 17.

Similarly, hinge portions or webs 28 and 29, having slots 30 and 31 therein, are secured to the iindersides of the portions 16 and 17, respectively, and to each other by pins 32 and 38, in the slots 30 and 31, which provide a lost-motion pivotal connection between the portions 16 and 17 about the points 27.

In the above described structure, since the adjacent inner ends of the halves 16 and 17 of the element and the corresponding ends of the arms 2O are connected by means below the upper main field control surfaces of the element, the connecting Vor hinge means are shielded by these surfaces and prevented from disturbing the field.

Under normal operating conditions, the parts assume the positions shown in Figs. 2 3 and 4L and, in full lines in Fig. 1. I'Iowever, should the conductor 3 and the device 5, by reason of breakage of the conductor or other cause, be moved relative to each other through sufficient angle about the center of the structure, engagement lof the conductor with one of the portions 16 or 17 would cause the latter to be moved away from its normal operating` position.

lhen the conductor 3 and the portion 17, to the richt of the center of the structure, as viewed in the drawing, come together, by reason of the lost-motion relation of the pins 2i, 32 and to the slots 26, 8O and 31, the elementsl? and 20, at one side of the center of the structure, pivot, as one element, about the point 27 and are automatically returned, by gravity, to their normal operating positions, when the line has been restored to its normal condition. Similarly, the portions 16 and 20, to left of the center of the device, tilt upwardly about the vpoints 27, when the pon tion 16 and the conductor 8 engage at that side of the structure.

y:Since the device 5 is constructed in complementary halves, which are connected by means of the pins 24, 32 and 33, it may be placed together, about the insulator and clamp, and be removed therefrom, while the insulator and clamp are mounted in operative position, without detaehing the insulator at either end.

TWhile I have shown and described a particular form of my invention, changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a transmission-line device, the combination with an insulator', of an electrostaticheld-control structure including a pivotally.- mounted field-control portion for displacement by movement of the line conductor.

2. In a transmission-line device, the combination with an insulator, of an electrostaticfield-control structure including a field-con trol portion displaceable and automatically replaceable in accordance with certain movements of the line conductor.

3. In a transmission-line device, the combination with an insulator', of an electrostaticfield-control structure including relatively movable half portions for displacement by the line conductor. 4

In a transmission-line device, .the combination with an insulator', of an electrostaticfield-control structure including angular-ly relatively movable vheld-control portions and shielded means for connecting said portions.

5. In a transmission-line device, the combination with an insulator, of an electrostaticfield-control structure including` relatively movable lield-control portions having normally flush field-control conducting surfaces andV means shielded by said surfaces for connectin g said portions and permitting relative movement thereof.

6. In a transmission-line device, the combination with an insulator, of an electrostatic-field-control structure including spaced parallel portions and connecting means permitting corresponding sections of said portions to pivot about a common point in a held-control surface thereof.

means. y

10. An electrostatic-ield-control device comprising an annular field-control element including half vportions pivotally relatively movable about a point on the field-control surface thereof.

11. An electrostatic-field-control device comprising an annular held-control'element including half-portions pivotall relatively movable about a point on the eid-control surface thereof and supporting means for said portions having lost-motion connection Lthereto for permittitng said relative movement.

"12. An electrostatic-field-control device comprising an annular field-control element including alf portions pivotally relatively movable about a point on the field-control sur-` face thereof, lost-motion means for connecting said portions and supporting means for said portions having lost-motion connectionv thereto for permittting said relative movement.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 28th day of Septenr ber, 1927.

FREDERIC H. MILLER. 

